Minor Moves: Nationals Acquire Omar Poveda
Here are Sunday's minor moves from around MLB:
- The Nationals have acquired right-hander Omar Poveda from the White Sox in exchange for cash considerations, tweets Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times. The 26-year-old Venezuelan spent 2013 with the Braves' Triple-A affiliate posting a 3.62 ERA, 7.3 K/9, and 3.2 BB/9 in 164 innings covering 27 games (including 25 starts).
Marlins Designate Brady, Bogusevic For Assignment
The Marlins have announced on Twitter they have designated right-hander Michael Brady and outfielder Brian Bogusevic for assignment. The team also announced they have purchased the contracts of outfielder Reed Johnson and right-hander Kevin Slowey.
Bogusevic, who is not yet arbitration eligible, was acquired from the Cubs last December for Justin Ruggiano. The 30-year-old slashed .273/.323/.462 in 155 plate appearances last year, but has a career line of .236/.313/.370 in 773 plate appearances.
Brady, a 24th-round selection of the Marlins in the 2009 amateur draft, spent last season at Double-A Jacksonville making 49 trips out of the bullpen good for a 1.53 ERA, 9.3 K/9, and 1.5 BB/9 in 53 innings.
Johnson and Slowey both signed minor league deals with the Marlins in January. With the Braves, Johnson struggled to a .244/.311/.341 line in just 136 plate appearances, leading the club to decline his $1.6MM option and instead pay him a $150K buyout. He was much better over the previous two seasons, however, combining to log 554 plate appearances while slashing .299/.342/.431. Slowey threw 92 1/3 innings for the Miami in 2013 and posted a 4.11 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 1.8 BB/9, and a 28.7% ground-ball rate in 20 games (including 14 starts).
Added To The 40-Man Roster: Sunday
The rosters for Opening Day were officially submitted this afternoon. Several minor league signees have won jobs with their clubs and earned 40-man roster spots. Here are today’s additions:
- The Rangers announced they have purchased the contract of infielder Josh Wilson. After designating Adam Rosales for assignment and placing catcher Geovany Soto on the 60-day disabled list, there remains one opening on the Rangers’ 40-man roster.
- The Diamondbacks announced they have added right-hander Daniel Hudson to the 40-man roster and promptly placed him on the 15-day disabled list as he recovers from his second Tommy John surgery. The 27-year-old signed a minor league deal with the Diamondbacks last December.
- The Cubs announced they have purchased the contracts of right-hander Brian Schlitter and catcher John Baker and placed right-hander James McDonald on the 60-day disabled list. The Cubs’ roster now stands at 40.
Rangers Designate Adam Rosales For Assignment
SUNDAY: The Rangers announced they have designated Rosales for assignment. The Rangers now have 10 days to trade, release, or outright Rosales to the minor leagues.
SATURDAY: The Rangers will designate infielder Adam Rosales for assignment, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports via Twitter.
Readers of the site will remember seeing a similar headline on several recent occasions, as Rosales was DFA'd and claimed several times last year, moving between the Rangers and division-rival Athletics. The 30-year-old looked to be in better shape this time around after Texas gave him a $750K salary to avoid arbitration, but struggled to a .159/.208/.205 line with 15 strikeouts in 48 spring plate appearances.
Orioles Designate Mike Belfiore For Assignment
The Orioles have announced via a press release they have designated left-hander Mike Belfiore for assignment. The move, along with placing right-hander Edgmer Escalona on the 60-day disabled list, clears roster space for the addition of outfielder Delmon Young and right-hander Evan Meek to the 40-man roster.
Belfiore made his MLB debut last September for the Orioles throwing 1 1/3 innings against the Red Sox allowing three hits, including a pair of home runs. At Triple-A, the 25-year-old made 37 relief outings posting a 3.18 ERA, 9.7 K/9, and 3.4 BB/9. The Diamondbacks made Belfiore the 45th overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft, but shipped him to Baltimore in 2012 as the player to be named later when they acquired Josh Bell.
Phillies Release, Re-Sign Ronny Cedeno
SUNDAY: The Phillies tweeted they have re-signed Cedeno to a minor league deal and have assigned him to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
TUESDAY: The Phillies have released infielder Ronny Cedeno, the club announced. Cedeno had looked to be a decent bet to make the roster, especially with Freddy Galvis shelved to start the season.
The 31-year-old spent last season with the Padres and Astros, putting up a combined .242/.287/.330 line in 288 plate appearances. It is probably fair to say that is a good approximation of his true talent, as both Cedeno's career line (.246/.289/.354) and his spring line (.182/.250/.273 in 24 plate appearances) are to much the same effect. Defensive metrics have never been big fans of Cedeno's work in the field, and his numbers took a downturn last year. At short, where he spent most of his time, Cedeno was graded at -7.6 UZR and -5 DRS in only 627 2/3 innings.
With the news, the Opening Day odds increase for Cesar Hernandez and Reid Brignac, Matt Gelb of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes on Twitter.
White Sox Release, Re-Sign Mitchell Boggs
MARCH 30: The White Sox have signed Boggs to a minor league contract, tweets MLB.com's Scott Merkin.
MARCH 23: The White Sox announced that they have requested waivers on Mitchell Boggs for the purpose of granting him his unconditional release. It was a short stay with Chicago for Boggs, who signed with the White Sox on February 7th.
Boggs, 30, served as the Cardinals' closer last season after Jason Motte underwent Tommy John surgery. However, despite performing well as a setup man, Boggs struggled in his small sample as the Cardinals' ninth-inning solution. The former fifth-round pick allowed 18 earned runs on 21 hits and 15 walks in just 14 2/3 innings for St. Louis before being designated for assignment and picked up by the Rockies. He also struggled in Colorado's minor league system, posting an 8.27 ERA in 16 1/3 Triple-A innings, but Boggs righted the ship (to an extent) upon a promotion to the Majors in September. In 8 2/3 big league innings to close the season, he allowed three runs on seven hits and five walks.
Prior to that rough 2013, Boggs posted a combined 3.08 ERA with 7.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 201 innings from 2010-12. White Sox GM Rick Hahn told reporters, including the Chicago Tribune's Colleen Kane (via Twitter), the team is open to bringing back Boggs on a minor league deal, if he doesn't latch on elsewhere.
Indians Designate Colt Hynes, Frank Herrmann
The Indians have designated lefty Colt Hynes and righty Frank Herrmann for assignment, the club announced via press release. These moves, along with the DFA of Preston Guilmet, clear roster space for the club's 40-man additions: Scott Atchison, Jason Giambi, and Nyjer Morgan.
Herrmann, 29, is making his way back from Tommy John surgery after missing all of 2013. He threw 120 1/3 innings between 2010-12 with the Indians, putting up a cumulative 4.26 ERA with 5.4 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9.
Hynes, meanwhile, was added in exchange for cash from the Padres back in October. He was knocked around in his first 17 MLB frames last year with San Diego (and in his 5 2/3 spring innings). But Hynes posted a sterling 1.52 ERA in 47 1/3 minor league innings last year, with an even more impressive 11.0 K/9 against just 0.4 BB/9.
Indians Designate Preston Guilmet For Assignment
The Indians have designated righty Preston Guilmet for assignment, reports Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (via Twitter). Guilmet, a 9th-round pick in the 2009 draft, has spent his career as a reliever in the Cleveland system.
The 26-year-old has very limited MLB experience, appearing in just four games last year, but has been a force in the minors. In 64 1/3 innings last year in his first stint at Triple-A, he posted a 1.68 ERA with 10.1 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9. Since converting to the pen after his first year in professional ball, Guilmet has never had an ERA above 2.39 while moving up the ladder each year, and has consistently posted strong strikeout totals with few walks.
Red Sox Release Francisco Cordero
TODAY, 9:37am: Correcting his earlier report, Cotillo tweets that Cordero is represented by Relativity.
YESTERDAY, 4:28pm: Cordero will be represented by new agents on the open market, tweets Chris Cotillo of MLBDailyDish.com. He has switched from Proformance to ACES.
11:20am: The Red Sox have released pitcher Francisco Cordero, tweets Tim Britton of the Providence Journal. The move was expected after GM Ben Cherington said this morning that Cordero would not make the roster and was not expected to accept a minor league assignment.
Cordero, soon to turn 39, has not seen MLB action since 2012. Once one of the most reliable relievers in the game, the longtime closer had a rough go in his last big league season, putting up a 7.55 ERA campaign in 2012. Before that, however, he had gone a decade of full-time work without an ERA greater than 3.84, and had posted six seasons of sub-3.00 ERA pitching. In eight spring innings for the Red Sox this year, Cordero struck out eight while surrendering just one walk, five hits, and no earned runs.